If it comes down to ticks versus tocks, I would place myself in the tick
camp. Recently, a wide hallway was revamped where I work with carpeting
and sound absorbing surfaces on the walls and ceiling. I couldn't
believe how disorienting it was to suddenly have the lack of echos to
confirm my location. Of course, it didn't stop me from traveling down
that hallway and I quickly became used to it. However, a new and better
cane tip that is likely also going to be more expensive, will have lower
acceptance if its "sound" is dramatically different than the original
tip.
Although sound reflections are very important to me as a travel aid, I am
finding that the echos returned by the tapping of my cane are less and
less reliable because of the greater variety of surfaces placed upon
floors. In particular, indoor/outdoor carpeting and rubberized floor
surfaces do not generate sound when tapped with a cane that is of much
value. Therefore, although I feel the "sound" of a new tip should remain
similar to that of the old tips primarily for marketing purposes, I don't
think the cane tip is worth a great deal of research as a sound source.
In general, though, sound reflections are greatly under-rated as a travel
aid. With all of the research into radar and ultrasonic travel aids, I
think a quiet cricket-like sound source that could be attached to the
handle of a cane might often be useful. One reason that crickets are
hard to locate is the efficiency with which their sounds are reflected.
It is not that one cannot localize the sounds they make, the problem is
finding the location of the original sound among all of the false
locations generated by reflections.
--
Steve Jacobson
National Federation of the Blind
3M Company
Internet: SOJACOBSON@MMM.COM
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